Shoosmiths LLP advised the shareholders and the management team of Mortgages Made Easy Limited on the acquisition of Contractor Financials Limited and the additional investment for growth by Livingbridge.
Headquartered in Whiteley, Hampshire, Mortgages Made Easy is one of the UK's leading providers of broking services for mortgages and related financial products to the contractor freelancing industry. The company was established by Sat Singh in 2004 who continues to run the business alongside a core management team consisting of Taj Kang and Andy McBride. The combined business will employ over 130 staff and it is anticipated that it will deliver over 7,000 mortgages a year to contractors and freelancers across the country.
The investment by Livingbridge will allow for further growth of the group to achieve its aim to become one of the top three national brokers in the UK (non Estate Agency led).
Sean Wright of Shoosmiths led the deal, supported by partner Lynn Knight, Lisa Sigalet and Ross Lang (corporate) and Janet Dalton (regulatory).
Sat Singh (CEO) commented: 'Shoosmiths provided an excellent service to the shareholders and management throughout the process. Sean and the team worked to tight deadlines, giving commercial and concise advice during a complex and multi-faceted transaction. The entire team worked tirelessly with constant good humour and I would thoroughly recommend them.'
The lead advisers for the exiting shareholder and the management team were Spectrum Corporate Finance LLP (Clive Hatchard, Ian Milne and Bilal Hasan).
Sean Wright commented: 'This was a great transaction to work on, with a strong and experienced management team who, alongside Livingbridge, will continue to build and evolve Contractor Mortgages Made Easy and Contractor Financials. I have no doubt this will prove to be a successful venture.'
Shoosmiths' corporate team has a strong track record of advising public and private companies, management teams, investors and debt providers through the business life cycle. Shoosmiths work with businesses from start-up and first round finance through to mergers and acquisitions, MBO and MBI transactions, development funding and on exits, by way of sale, listing or private equity investment.
The national corporate team has recently been placed second by deal volume in Experian's UK Deal Review and Advisor League Table.